Let It Go
by MortyaSanoma
Summary: John is the prince of a kingdom, with a secret only a select few, not even his own twin sister knows. What happens when his secret comes out?
1. Prologue

So, I got inspired for a new fic, co-written by Winged Illusion, and this is the result. See if you can figure out what it's about :3 Enjoy!

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Be the Narrator

In the kingdom of Alternia, the kingdom famous for it's green forests, bright neighboring sea, and tall Sburb Mountain, the king paced back and forth in his castle hallway. His aquamarine eyes full of worry. His wife, the queen, was currently in a very nervous birthing process. From what the doctors said, his wife could be having twins, which, in that day and age, was almost a death sentence. He soon heard the sound of crying coming from down the hall and saw a maid come out. She smiled a small smile, which made the black haired king smile in relief as he ran into the room his wife was in. She was sitting against the headboard of the bed, holding two small bundles in her arms.

The king rushed to her side, tears starting to form at the corner of his eyes. He sat on the bed and looked at his two new children, a boy and girl. He slowly picked up the boy and grinned with fatherly pride. The boy slowly opened his eyes, which shone a deep blue, the man's smile only growing. The king looked at the little girl, who looked back at him with bright green eyes and smile just as bright.

"Names? Have you picked any, my liege?" The nearest maid asked the king. The king looked at her and smiled.

"John and Jade. Those are their names."

Be the now 8 year John.

You couldn't help but be excited. Your father finally let you and Jade go outside with just one care taker. And with great joy, you got Jake English, one of the newest castle servants. Jake let you and Jade get away with a lot more than the other servants, so getting him as the only watch made you get even more excited. You ran around with Jade, earning a chuckle from Jake.

"Not to far you two!" Jake yelled.

"Let's play hide and seek!" Jade said with a giggle. She then looked at Jake. "Jake's it!"

"Wha- Why am I it?!"

"Cause you're the oldest! Now count!" You said, chuckling as you ran into the nearest forest with Jade. Jake sighed with a chuckle and covered his eyes as he started to count. John and Jade separated ways and John kept running until he found a clearing. He saw a bush and climbed into it, hiding.

You don't know how many minutes pass before you realized you don't hear anything. You slowly crawled into the clearing and looked around. You couldn't see anyone around. However, you started hearing the sound of snarling.

Be the young caretaker.

You looked around and couldn't find John anywhere. You found Jade with ease, as she couldn't stop giggling, but John? He's an entirely different story. When John doesn't want to be found, he hides as best he can, being completely silent. You look at Jade, who looks worried.

"Wh-Why haven't you found John yet?" Jade asked you. You kneel down and pet her head.

"Don't worry, your highness. I'll go find him. Just go inside alright?" Jade nodded and ran into the castle as you ran back into the forest.

"Your highness! Prince John!" You yell. You hear a small scream and run in the direction of the scream. When you arrive you see small John cornered by a small pack of wolves. "Your highness!" The wolves quickly turn to you and your eyes widen. "Y-Yeah! That's right! Look at me!" The wolves look between you and John before continuing to stare down John. You look around for a weapon of some sort before you see one of the wolves pounce at John.

"St-Stay away from me!" You hear John scream before the wolves, and yourself, get blown back by a strong wind. Most of the wolf pack scatters, but one, the one that pounced, was rammed into a tree, killed on contact. You on the other hand, felt a slight pain in your side. You look at it to see that you had been stabbed in the side by a large stick. John looked at you with large eyes as he ran to your side. "J-Jake…. I…"

"D-Don't worry, your highness… I-I'll be okay." You say, as some more knights run into the clearing.

"Prince John, English!" The lead knight yelled. He looked around and his orange eyes widened when he saw the dead wolf.

"I… I'll explain to the King and Queen. No one else…" Jake said, patting John's head as one of the other knights helped him off the branch and begin wrapping your wound.

Be the young prince again.

You stood awkwardly in the throne room, looking at your feet as Jake explained what happened to your parents. You didn't mean for that burst of wind to happen. You didn't even know how it happened. And you especially didn't want to hurt Jake. Your father looked at you with concerned eyes and your mother with shock.

"So… You're telling me… John has control over wind?" The King asked.

"It's not unheard of. I've heard of many people having powers in history. John's just… the first one I've seen." Jake explained. The King nodded slowly. "I don't think he has a complete control of them."

"Then we can't let him out in public!" The Queen said. The King looked at her with wide eyes. "At least not until he has control of them." The King was silent before slowly looking at you

"I… I don't wanna hurt anyone…" You say, looking down. The King slowly nodded.

"Jake, I want you to be his main care taker." The King said to Jake. "You have seen his powers, and he trusts you." Jake bowed.

"Of course." Jake said, looking at John with a slight smile.

Be the young princess.

It's been a few weeks since the incident with John happened. You hadn't seen John much since then, not even at dinner. You slowly walked to his bedroom door and knocked. "John? Do you wanna play hide and seek?" No answer. "Come on! Let's go and play! I barely see you anymore. Come out the door! It's like you've gone away!" You yelled. Still, no answer. "We used to be best buddies, and now we're not… I wish you would tell me why… Do you wanna play hide and seek? It doesn't have to be hide and seek…"

"Go away, Jade…" Was the only thing you heard.

"Okay… Bye."


	2. Chapter 1

Hey guys! I meant to post this chapter earlier, but fan fiction wouldn't let me. Also, this chapter was REALLY collabed with the co-writer, Winged Illusion. We were up until like, 1 AM writing this XD

Well, anyway. Enjoy!

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Be the now 15 year old Prince

It's now winter and you sigh a bit. It's snowing and even though you've seen snow before you've never really had much experience with the stuff. So you finally decided to ask your father if you can go outside, for just today. You slowly walk down the hall to the throne room, opening the door cautiously.

"J-John?" Your father says in slight surprise. You gulp as you close the door and walk over towards him.

"H-Hello, Father…" You say as you stand in front of him.

"What brings you here, son?" He asks, a slight smile on his face. That smile brings one to your own face as you calm down a bit.

"Um, Dad… I was, well, I was wondering if maybe…. Well maybe just this once, I could go out and play in the snow? It would only be for today." You pause slightly, waiting nervously for a response. Not receiving one, you continue babbling to cover your nervousness. "You can even send someone to go with me to make sure I don't get into any trouble! I mean, if it's not too much trouble. I just…. I just really want to go out and play in the snow. It looks so pretty…" You trail off, realizing that your father still hasn't said anything. "Oh, um, never mind. This was a stupid idea," you mutter out, turning to leave the room. "Sorry I bothered you. I didn't mean to waste your time."You see your father begin to think about your request.

You turn around again as your father finally addresses you. "It's perfectly alright, son," your father replies, smiling benevolently. "You're never a waste of my time. Besides, its about time you and Jade were assigned knights of your own."

Your eyes widen at your father's response, not really being the reaction you were expecting. However, you struggle to keep yourself outwardly calm, though internally, you are ecstatic."Oh, thank you so much, dad!" You practically sing, grinning widely. You fidget impatiently, waiting for him to be done with you so you can go tell Jake.

The king, as if sensing your enthusiasm, starts chuckling. "You may go." He states. "I'll send the knight I choose for you to your room. But please… Do be careful."

You bow slightly, unable to prevent a smile from ear to ear, totally ruining your attempt at a stately demeanor. "Of course!" You reply, before running out of the throne room and down the hall to find Jake.

Be A Young 16 Year Old Knight

Your name is Dave Strider, and recently, you were knighted. You are currently on your way to the throne room, having been summoned by the King himself. You have no idea what the king could want with you. You walk into the room, no inkling of your impending assignment, but eagerly anticipating it nonetheless. The king sits straight on his throne. You kneel before him, bowing, crossing your arm across you chest.

"You called me, your Majesty?" You ask, standing when the king allows you to.

"As you know, John recently turned 15." Oh god… No. Anything but this. John is infamous for being a pretentious, condescending, stuck up snob, believing himself too good to come out into the public eye. You were shocked he even deigned to come to your knighting. If the King is gonna assign you to protect and cater to John, you seriously might puke. "This is around the age young nobility are assigned to a knight for their protection." Shit. You are. You're going to be assigned to John. Shit shit shit shit. "I want you to work for John." And those words seal the deal. You're stuck with the snotty prince. SHIT. "You two are around the same age, and John needs some sort of companionship." You sense some sort of deep sorrow in his voice when he says that, but choose to ignore it. You KNOW John won't even acknowledge your existence, let alone actually build a friendship with you, seeing as you are not one of royal heritage. However, this is the king you're talking to, so you have to obey. So, you simply bow again,biting back the scathing retort you wish you could offer in response.

"Of course, your Majesty." You reply. You see him smile a bit.

"Thank you. He's waiting in his room. He wishes to go outside today." Wow, the prince, leaving his warm comfortable room? That's a surprise. "I want you to go with him."

"Of course." You say, before turning around and walking out and down the long hall, seeing the butler, Jake English, if your memory is correct, walking out of the prince's room. He gives you a slight thumbs up before you knock on the door. "Your highness?" You ask as you knock.

"It's open!" A surprisingly excited voice replies. You stare at the door for a moment, uncertain if you have the right room, before opening the door tentatively. When you walk in, you meet the eyes of the prince, whose conflicting emotions of anxiety, excitement, and nervousness are waging a very obvious war across his expressive face. Excitement seems to be winning at the moment, though, if you had to guess. Weird. You cross your arm across your chest, bowing slightly.

"My name is Dave Strider, and your father, his Majesty, assigned me to you for protection." You introduce yourself. You look up at him and a look of shock is obvious on his face. "Sir?"

"Strider? As in, the Strider family?" He asks, still in a bit of shock. You hold back the urge to roll your eyes at the prince.

"The very same."

"Wow! I… I wasn't expecting a knight with such a prestigous lineage…" John said, playing with his fingers nervously. You raise a brow slightly. If you had one word to describe the boy in front of you, you would have to say, 'dork'. He is showing no signs so far of being the 'snobby prince' you have heard about. "B-But, anyway, you ready to go outside?" John asks quickly, the excitement obviously building. Slowly you nod.

"Yes. That is why I'm here." You say. You want this to be over with. He grins at you before you two slowly walk outside. You watch as the prince's face beams with curiosity and amazement as he starts to run around in the snow. He is almost acting like a child on Christmas morning. He then starts spinning around, his arms out and his eyes closed, grin obvious on his face. He, while twirling, trips and fall onto his back, causing him to laugh. You walk over to him slowly standing over him. "Dude. What are you doing? You look like an idiot."

"But this is so COOL!" He says. He then laughs at his own pun. "Literally and figuratively!" You stare at him, before extending your hand.

"I'm sorry to say, but that pun was terrible. Allow me to help you up, sir." You say. He pouts slightly.

"Oh, I meant to tell you, just call me John. You're too formal. We're about the same age right? It'd just be weird to have you calling me "sir" and "your highness" all the time." He grins at you, and takes the hand you offered to help him back to his feet. You look at him with wide eyes. Wait. What?! The prince famous for shunning all around him is telling you, a knight, to call him by his first name.

"But sir… That's really not appropriate…" You say.

"Fine. When it's just the two of us? Please, I don't get a chance to see many people…" John explains. This statement thoroughly confuses you. You shuffle your feet uncomfortably, not sure exactly how to respond to his totally unexpected request. "Pleeeeeeeease?" he all but begs, imploring you with widened eyes and an injured expression.

"Well… If that is what you want…. John." You say, earning a grin from him.

"Come on! I wanna walk around more!" John says, turning on his heels and walking towards the snowy wooded area. You quickly follow him. He looks around, still amazed at how the area looks with snow covering the trees. His excitement is quite contagious and you slowly, while he's not looking, form a snowball in your hands. You wait until he is totally preoccupied with getting the snow off of the branches of a tree by pulling the branch down, and letting it snap back up so that the snow resting on the branch is launched into the air and drifts gently back down around him, swirling in the breeze that you notice has begun to pick up. Shivering slightly, you pull the thick wool fabric of your outer tunic closer to you, and surreptitiously take a throwing stance, winding up, and letting the snowball fly, chuckling as it hits the prince squarely in the back of the head, frozen clumps of icy white now intermingled with the dark brunette of his hair. John stops what he's doing and freezes where he stands, turning slowly to face you with wide eyes. All you can do is stare back, locking eyes with your superior, and charge, who you _just threw a fucking snowball at. HARD_. Oh shit. Oh holy F*CKING SHIT. You are royally screwed. In more ways that one.

"I-I'm sorry I just… It's snowing and you really can't experience snow without one snowball fight I am sorry I-" You continue rambling as he stares at you. He walks over to you and puts his hands on your mouth, effectively shutting you up.

"What was that, and how do you do it?" John asks, a bit of a mischievous glint in his eyes. You visibly relax. You're not gonna die. He's okay with it. You slowly show him how to make a snowball and then, next thing you realize, you are having a snowball fight with the prince. In these moments, you realize the prince is NOTHING like the rumors. He's actually really fun to be around. He actually wants to know you, spend time with you, and, most shocking of all, he treats you like an actual person. You feel this job might not be as bad as you originally thought.

Be the prince.

You are having a blast! You haven't had this much fun since, well, before you discovered your powers. This snowball fight Dave showed you is amazing! You may not be very good at it, but that doesn't make this any less fun. You throw yourself to the ground to evade another snowball launched in your direction, and prep another snowball before scrambling to your feet. Lost in the moment, you grin exuberantly and fling it with all your might at Dave. You watch as the snowball rips through the air, propelled by a fantastic gust of wind, and hits Dave squarely in the chest, knocking the air out of him and sending him flying. You quickly realize what happened. Your powers. They strengthened that shot. You watch as Dave hits a tree and slumps down to the ground. You slowly step back as you hug yourself.

"Wow… That's some arm you've got there." Dave says, standing up slowly. You know you have lost all the color in your face. "John? You okay?" He asks. You shake your head, not looking at him.

"I… I need to go back inside…" You say, quickly walking past him. You don't look at him, but hear his footsteps following you. You quickly walk to your room and slam the door shut. You don't know if he's outside the door or not. Right now, you're scared to see anyone. Your powers acted up again. You curl up on your bed before hearing a knock on your door.

"John?" Oh. It's Jade. You can hear the apprehension in her voice. She must have talked to Dave. "Do you wanna play hide and seek? Or ride our bikes down the hall?" You bite your lips, the memories of that day seven years ago come flooding in your head. "I think some company is overdue, I've started talking to the pictures on the wall." you allow yourself a short, wry laugh at that. "It gets a little lonely, all these empty rooms, just watching the hours tick by…" You hugs your knees to your chest, deciding not to answer her. You hear her walking down the hallway slowly, before you lean your head on your pillow, closing your eyes and falling asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

So… Longest chapter I've ever written with the thanks of Winged Illusion. Also, please be prepared for some sadness! AND PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!

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Be the now 19 year old John.

These past four years have been the best! Having Dave as a personal knight also brought you a friend. Today is the day Dave starts teaching you how to fight with a sword. The King announced that you would be the next king, seeing as you are now 19. So, obviously, you need to learn how to fight.

Dave leads you down to a special training area, specially prepared by Jake, to train. You pick up a wooden sword, as does hold it awkwardly by the hilt, not entirely sure how to position your hands. You step away from the wall and the pile of harmless practice weapons and towards the center of the room and look up, admittedly slightly nervous to begin sparring. You feel a warm sigh tickle the back of your neck and a soft voice by your left ear say "Oh my god. John. No. That is definitely NOT how you hold a sword. The first time someone hits it it's going to fall out of your hands, and then you'll be dead. You need to put your hands here, and here." You feel your face warm slightly as he reaches around on either side of you and repositions your hands, before placing his hands overtop of yours on the sword to better demonstrate the correct placement. You are acutely aware of how close he is. Your back is entirely pressed against his chest, and his breath tickles your cheek as he continues explaining something, though you are far too preoccupied to catch any of it. You gulp a bit, quickly matching where his hands are. He pulls away and walks to stand a few yards away from you holding his own sword again. "Alright. Copy what I do." Dave states. You nod and start copying the motions he makes, and soon you're sparring with him. You know he's being ridiculously easy on you, and you curse yourself for not thinking to ask your father for some, ANY sort, really, of combat lessons. Unlike Jade, who has been taking crossbow lessons for years and never goes anywhere without her crossbow, you are woefully unprepared for any sort of assault.

"God dammit!" you curse as Dave smacks your sword out of your hands for the umpteenth time.

"John. You're not concentrating. You have to focus. Stop trying to think so much and just _react_." Dave chastises you with a shrug. As if it's that easy!

"Easy for you to say, show off," you mutter sourly under your breath as you bend down to retrieve your sword."

"I'm sorry, I believe _you_ asked_ me_ to teach you how to fight. This is me teaching you how to fight." Dave responds snidely, sticking his tongue out at you before lunging forward and tapping you sharply on the ribs.

"Ouch!" you exclaim, your free hand moving instinctively to cover the bruised area. "That hurt." You scowl at him, indignant.

"Stop being such a baby," he laughs.

"I asked you to teach me how to fight, not use me as a punching bag."

"I am teaching you how to fight. I'm giving you motivation to fight me. You aren't really trying. _Hit_ me. I'm not going to break." He sidesteps and dances around behind you, delivering a stinging slap with the flat of his sword directly to your ass.

"F*ck, Dave, that hurt," you spit out as you whirl around. He dances backward grinning madly at your sorry attempt to catch him. You dash forward towards him and jump, bringing your sword swinging down with all of your strength with both hands on the hilt, and deliver a resounding thwack to the crown of Dave's head.

You smile triumphantly as he drops his sword and cradles his head in his hands. "Jesus f*ck John, what the hell?"

"Serves you right, meanie." You reply, sticking your tongue out at him, even though he doesn't see it. His eyes are screwed shut in pain as you laugh down at-

Hang on just one second, down? You look down and are shocked to see that you are casually standing _a foot and a half off of the ground_. Just floating there in thin air. You let out a bloodcurdling shriek and pull your legs up, clutching your knees as you stare down at the ground that your body has decided that it APPARENTLY DOESN'T NEED TO SUPPORT ITSELF. As if your awareness of this fact has allowed gravity's efficacy on your body to return, you tumble to the ground in a less than graceful heap, scraping your cheek and your left elbow on the hard flagstones with enough force to draw blood. You completely ignore this, and scramble to your feet, stumbling the few steps to where Dave is still obliviously nursing his wounded head, and clutch frantically at him, hanging on as if for dear life.

"John, what the-, dude, are you okay? You're hyperventilating." He looks at you, concerned, brushing the hair out your eyes and putting his hands on your shoulders. "And you're bleeding! How did you manage that?" You don't respond, your breathing too erratic to force any words out. Instead, you shake off his hands and bury your face in his shoulder, hugging him tightly around the neck.

Be the extremely confused and concerned knight.

You have no idea what has John so spooked, and quite honestly, you're a little bit freaked. Usually, when he gets scared or upset he runs to his room and doesn't want to be around anyone for hours. Only Jake can get him to come out of his room when he's like that, so for him to be clinging to you and shaking like a leaf is seriously worrying. John is seriously holding onto you for dear life. You have no clue why, so you simply return his hug. "What's wrong, John?" He quickly shakes his head, his face still hidden. You look at his elbow and cheek and sigh. "Let's get that taken care of." You help him to his room and have him sit on his bed. You get a rag and dip it in hot water, which you had a servant bring up from the kitchen, and slowly wash his cheek, him wincing a bit, still shaking. You sigh before examining his cheek after cleaning it, nodding. "Now. Take your shirt off. I need to clean your elbow." John's eyes widen a bit after you say that. "Dude. Seriously. I can't clean it through the fabric. Besides, it's ripped now, you need a new one anyway." He stares at you for a bit before slowly taking off his shirt. You stare for a moment before quickly shakeing your head and picking up John's arm. "Let's clean that elbow." You say, slowly rubbing some alcohol on his elbow. He winces a bit but bites his lip, letting you clean it. You wash it slowly, making sure it's _thoroughly _cleaned. Finally, you wrap up his elbow in a clean piece of linen and tie it tight. "There we go." John thanks you quietly before looking up at you, his eyes still showing fear. "Look, I don't know what spooked you dude, but whatever it is, I won't let it get to you…" You say, putting your hand on his shoulder. "I promise." You say, looking him straight in the eyes.

Suddenly, Jake walks into the room and sees you guys. "Oh! You are in here!" Jake said with a slight sigh of relief. You and John look at him confused before he notices John's bandaged arm and his bruised cheek. "Good golly, Dave! What did you do to the poor prince?" Jake asks with a slight chuckle. You roll your eyes. "Well anyway. The castle is being quarantined because there is an outbreak of a deadly disease in the kingdom." Both of you respond with wide eyes.

"Seriously?!" You ask. John looks down.

"Yes, so this means no one can come in or out. Although… This doesn't really effect you, your highness." Jake says slowly. You look back at John, a bit confused. John's eyes stay focused on the ground. Jake bows before walking out of the room.

"John… What does he mean by that?" You ask.

Be the Prince again.

Your eyes widen a bit. Oh crap. Dave asked the infamous question. What do you do? Do you tell him? Do you lie? What do you do?

"Well… Let's just say I can't be around a large group of people. Ever." You reply as best you can, hoping he'll drop it.

"So… You have social anxiety?" Dave asks slowly.

"Well…. Not exactly."

"What is it then?" He asks. You look at him for a moment before sighing.

"Yeah. I have social anxiety. When I'm around a lot of people I get light headed and winded." You say, keeping your bad pun secret by holding back a laugh. You can't tell him. Not yet. What if your powers scare him? What if he realizes all those times you accidentally hurt him was due to your powers? You can't stand the idea of losing Dave. He nods in understanding.

"I get it now. That's why you never go to public events." Dave says slowly, as if realizing something for the first time. You nod.

"So…" You start before an idea comes to your head. "Wanna help me with something?" You say, standing up and going to grab a new shirt.

"Another one of your pranks?" He asks, looking at you. You nod, grinning as you put the shirt on and grab a bag.

"We need to go to the kitchen." You say. He raises an eye brow but slowly nods.

"Alright. Someone needs to make sure you don't go overboard with this." Dave says with a slight chuckle. You laugh and walk down to the kitchen carefully with him. You sneak past all the guards, and even see Jade receiving the usual long lecture from her assigned knight Kankri. You peak into the kitchen and see no one is there and quickly walk over to where the salt and sugar are kept. "You're gonna switch the sugar and salt?" Dave asks.

"You bet! And while we're at it we're gonna steal the forks too." You say. You carefully pour all the salt into a bowl, before pouring the sugar into the salt container and replacing the sugar with the salt. You put the bowl you used into your bag and walk over to where the utensils are kept. Leaving the spoons and knives, you stuff all the forks into your bag. Suddenly, you hear the familiar sound of your father humming coming from the hallway. "Crap! We gotta get out of here!" You say, before you and Dave run out the other door, to the entrance area of the castle. Both of you pant as you catch your breathe before you two laugh.

"What are you doing, you two?" A strong voice asks. You both look and see Dave's older brother, Dirk, staring at the two of you.

"Uh…. Nothing." You say as you quickly hand Dave the bag from behind your bag. Dirk looks you over, having been experienced to your pranking, especially after you turned Jake's hair neon green when you were sixteen. You grin, trying to convince him you're innocent.

"You're never not up to something, you're highness. And where did you get that bruise?" Dirk asks, looking at your cheek.

"You can thank your brother for that." You say, rubbing your cheek, earning a smirk from Dave.

"His highness wished for me to train him in combat. I merely did what I was asked." Dave says, earning a smirk from his brother.

"I see." Dirk responds.

"John…" You turn to see your father, holding one of his 'sugary' cakes before he flings it towards you. Both you and Dave duck, letting the cake fly over your heads, hitting Dirk in the face. Jake bursts into laughter as he threw his fist into the air.

"Finally! A prank I'm not a victim of!" Jake yells. You and Dave stare at Dirk, who's face is covered in cake, causing you both to laugh. Today, despite the earlier scare, ended a lot better than you expected.

Be the 19 year old princess.

"Now, Jade, I understand it triggers you to be stuck inside the castle as it is quarantined but you must understand that A: Sneaking out, B: Trying to sneak out, and C: Even thinking about sneaking out is not good for anyone because A: You'd be breaking the King's order, B: You would be exposed to the illness, C: Bec your dog might be exposed to the illness, D: If you were to be exposed you could die, E: If you were to be exposed and come in, you could expose the whole royal family to it, leading to their deaths, which, in turn, would lead to a disaster for the common people." When will this guy shut up? Your personal knight, Kankri Vantas, caught you trying to sneak out with your white wolf, Bec. Kankri is famous for his long, boring lectures.

"Yes yes I understand! Okay? I'm sorry!" You yell, crossing your arms and looking away from him. He sighs before looking at you.

"Alright. If you truly understand the graveness of these matters." Kankri said. Thank goodness he's finally going to shut up! You nod and quickly run down the hallway towards your room. As you run, you pass by John's room, tempted to knock. Since the quarantine a week ago, John's never come out. Not even to train with Dave. Dave and Jake have gone in and out, but not John. You gulp a bit and knock slowly.

"Who is it?" Oh gosh, it feels like forever since you heard his voice.

"It's me! Can I come in?" You ask hopefully. There's a slight silence.

"Sure. Come on in." You grin. You've never been allowed in his room, so this is an exciting first. You open the door and see your brother leaning against the doorframe that leads to a balcony you sometimes see from outside.

"Hey! John!" You say excitedly. He looks at you and smiles a bit.

"You must be really bored if you're coming to see me." He says. You groan.

"You have no idea. This quarantine is so dumb!"

"No it's not. They're trying to make sure we don't get sick…" John says.

"I know…" You reply with a sigh. "But it's so boring!" He chuckles again.

"I understand. You and Bec must be pretty tired of all these closed walls." He says, looking down. You frown. Although your brother does come out every once in a while, he mostly stays hidden away in his room. You don't know why, and you wish you did. From what Dave told you, John can't stand being around a large group of people. You slowly make your way to his side and hug him tight. Man, when was the last time you did this? He smiles a bit and hugs back. "Missed ya, sis." He says. At those words, you feel your heart being torn in two. He said those words so quietly, almost weakly. You look up at him, into his deep blue eyes, and see an unreadable expression. You hear people rush into the room, and, turning your head towards the door, you see Dave and Jake standing there, panting, both with concerned expressions on their faces.

"Your highnesses…" Dave starts, his voice wavering. You immediately worry, also feeling John grip your arms, obviously concerned as well.

"It… It's the queen." Jake starts. "She… She's got the disease…"

Be the scared prince

You are panicking. Your mother started showing signs of the deadly disease that found it's way into your kingdom. She started with just a bit of coughing, then turned to wheezing. She then slowly began having multiple dizzy spells. Even when you went out of your room, you weren't allowed anywhere near her, same for Jade. Jade left to go to her room and you sit on your balcony alone. You don't know how long you have been sitting there, all you know is the sun has set when you hear another knock on the door.

"It's open." You say. You turn to see Dave walk in slowly, a solemn look on his face. You stand quickly and walk over to him. "What happened?"

"I… I'm sorry John. She… She didn't make it." Dave says, looking into your blue eyes with his red eyes. You stand there in shock before looking down, tears starting to form. "And… That's not all." You look at Dave. "No… No…."

"The… The King has it now… I… I'm so sorry, John." That's when you crumble. You fall to your knees, Dave catching you before you fell farther. He holds you close as you cry into his shoulder.

Two days later, your father passes away as well. Luckily, the epidemic seems to have ended, and people are slowly coming out again. You sit on your balcony, your back against the wall. You look at the sky, the windy weather showing your sorrow, bringing in rain from nearby areas. You don't care, you let your powers do as they please. You then notice the sudden presence of someone next to you, and slowly look to see Dave next to you,

"Seems like even the weather mourns, huh?" He asks. If only he knew.

"Yeah…. Seems like it." You reply, your voice dry. You sigh and slowly lean your head against his shoulder. He slowly lowers his shoulder, making it possible for your head to lay comfortably. "Thanks…" You say.

"Only for you, John. My shoulder's too good for anyone else." Dave says, obviously trying to make you laugh. He succeeds, earning a wry laugh from you, causing you to cough. Slowly, the wind began to calm down, even a little bit, which causes you to smile. You sit there with Dave until it gets dark and he politely leaves so you can rest. You close the door behind him, leaning against it, slowly sliding down to sit against it. You jump a bit when you hear a slight knock.

"John?" It's Jade. "Please, I know you're in there. I've been wondering how you've been. They say 'have courage' and I'm trying to. I'm right out here for you. Just please, let me in." You bite your lips and slowly walk to beside your bed. "We only have each other, it's just you and me. What are we gonna do?" Her words cause a few tears to fall down your face. "Do…. You wanna play hide and seek?"

* * *

So I almost cried writing this. I'm sorry…. Just letting you know I did almost cry. PLEASE read the upcoming chapter!


	4. Chapter 3:

New chapter! And guess what? We learn something major about John! You guys probably saw it coming though :P. Again, this chapter was co-written by Winged Illusion! Enjoy!

* * *

Be the 22 year old soon to be King.

You stare out of your balcony, dreading what will happen in less than 24 hours. Tomorrow you will be crowned King of Alternia, and you are freaking the heck out. Not about the coronation though. Well, not as much about the coronation anyway. You've known since you were old enough to talk that you would eventually be crowned king and would have to take your dad's place. No, what you are worried about is the pressure you are going to be put under to choose a queen. You can't even fathom being stuck with another person for the rest of your life. Don't get you wrong, there are plenty of perfectly sweet, charming, eligible young ladies at court. And you are sure that any of them would make a wonderful queen for the kingdom of Alternia. However. You are also sure that these same girls are mostly a vapid, superficial bunch that you can't stomach being around for more than the duration of one of the rare public affairs you do attend. There are only three people who you can put up with for extended periods of time: Jade, Jake, and of course, Dave. And even among the three of those, only Jake knows about your powers. You can't risk endangering _another_ individual by forcing them to be around you all the time, especially since you won't be able to reveal your powers to them until after you are engaged, if at all. Plus, once you are engaged, you won't be able to spend as much time with Jake and Dave anymore. You'll be married, and have…. _husbandly_ duties. Eurgh. You'll be expected to produce a new heir to the throne! Your stomach churns a little as you think about that, and you flop onto your bed facedown and try to forget about the upcoming ceremony and what it will mean for you.

You groan loudly as you hear a knock at the door and Dave's voice calling your name. "Go _away_ Dave." You yell into your bedcovers, but in typical Strider fashion, Dave ignores you completely.

"John." He opens the door and walks over to your bed, standing over your prostrate form. "John. Get up."

"No," you respond back impudently."I don't wanna"

"You're acting like a whiny teenager."

"Maybe I _am_ a whiny teenager." You shoot back petulantly, your face still pressed to the covers.

"You're 22 years old. You knew this was coming. Why are you so freaked out all of a sudden?" he asks, concern coloring his voice. It would be imperceptible to anyone else, but he's one of your best friends. Hell, he's one of your _only_ friends, so you pick up on the shift in tone easily.

"I- I just- I don't know!" you wail, finally flipping over so you're laying on your back looking up at him as he stands over you. "I just am, okay?" You stare at him long and hard, eyes locked, before flipping back over onto your stomach and proceeding to ignore him again, hoping he would leave you to wallow in your self-pity. He doesn't. Instead he sits down on the edge of the bed beside you and rubs your upper back idly, trailing his blunt nails along and around your shoulder blades. You relax under his touch, sighing softly.

Dave slowly opens his mouth, starting to speak. "You know…. I…." You then hear the door open and look to see Jake walking in with a large bundle of clothes, cutting off whatever it was Dave was about to say.

"Your highness, you need to try on the robes for tomorrow's ceremony." Jake states simply. Dave stops rubbing your back, causing you to frown slightly, and he waves slowly before walking out. You begrudgingly stand up and you pull off your tunic, slipping it over your head, before realizing that Dave left the door to your room wide open. "Hey, Jake, you wanna shut that?" you ask, gesturing towards the door with a jerk of your chin as you unlace and remove your comfortable leather boots. You then pull off your leggings and step out of them, leaving them in a heap on the floor, and you shivering in just your drawers in the middle of your breezy chambers. Jake, returning from closing the door, then starts helping you put on the new clothes. "You excited about tomorrow?"

"No… Not at all." You reply.

"Why not? You worried about your powers? You know we've been working on-"

"It's not that." You interrupt. Jake looks up at you a bit surprised.

"Then what is it?" He asks. "Are you worried about finally becoming king?"

"No, it's not that either," you sigh. "I mean, i've known my whole life that I was going to be king one day. I've been preparing for it since I started talking. It's-" you pause looking over your shoulder at Jake, then think better of it. "Nevermind. It's too embarrassing."

"John. I've known you since you were three years old, and been your closest confidant since you were eight. I highly doubt it's any worse than anything you've told me already." He sits back on his heels and looks up at you, amused.

"Fine! It's just…. Once I'm coranated, I'll be expected to…. you know. Choose a queen," you mutter out, blushing. Jake raises a brow a bit.

"That's true. And there are _plenty_ of lovely ladies just waiting to be your bride." Jake says.

"That's not the problem! I mean… Not only will I have to keep my powers secret, but, I mean, look at me! I'm not even half as attractive as you or Dave!"

"Wait wait wait a moment." Jake says, stopping you with a wave of his hand. "You think Dave and I, are _attractive_?"

"Well, yeah, duh." You look at him confused. "You're more attractive than most of the women at court, as far as I've seen. I'm just this wimpy noodle, and lets face it, my facial structure _sucks_ . I've basically got the face of a 13 year old girl. And don't even get me started on Dave! He's just…." your blush deepens, and you make firm eye contact with the ground. "Well, you know! I mean, have you seen him? And on top of all that, when I DO find a fiancee, I'll be expected to produce an heir. And that involves-" your face screws up in disgust as you pause, unable to even put coherent words to the thought. "doing _stuff_ down _there_. which is just gross! I mean, kissing and stuff is bad enough, but…. Eurgh" you break off, shuddering. "I don't get why people _want_ to even do… that. It just sounds gross." The entire time you are talking, Jake is staring at you with an unreadable expression.

"John…. I don't think your problem stems from your lack of interest in, _those_ things…. But… In your lack of attraction to girls all together."

"What do you mean?" You ask.

Jake explains slowly. "John, at the last, public occasion, did you think anyone in particular was… attractive?" You begin to think.

"Well…. Um…. Dave's brother, Dirk, looked nice." You say slowly. Jake opens his mouth as if to say something but he quickly closes it.

"Alright… Fair enough… Have you ever found yourself… Sexually attracted to a girl?"

"What you mean like…?" Jake slowly nods. "OH NO HELL NO!" You say quickly.

"Alright. Have you ever fantasized about kissing anyone?" You stand there for a minute. Have you? You ponder it for a moment.

"Well… When I was younger… Yeah…" He gives you the 'please continue' look. "I… I was kinda curious about what it would be like to kiss Dave… But he is my best friend!" You are quick to add defensively.

"Well other that the fact that I'm pretty sure you're gay, are you sure that's all?" Jake asks. You stare at him bewildered.

"Wait, what do you mean, I'm gay?"

"You like boys, not girls."

You stare at him a moment, totally befuddled, before it hits you. Oh. _Oh._ You are _so_ gay. But what did Jake mean by 'are you sure that's all?' Did he mean…. Dave? Okay, mental checklist. Do you like guys? Well, from what Jake has said, yes. Do you find Dave hot? Yes. Heck yes. That's not even in question. Have you wanted to kiss him? Yes you just admitted that. Do you miss him when he's not around? Yeah. Do you feel calm when he's around? Yeah, he's one of the few I'm calm around. If he was in danger, would you put yourself in danger to help him? Of course! Do you get jealous when he 'flirts' with the castle girls? If you mean feel a deep pain in your chest, then yes. "Oh my gosh, I'm in love with Dave Strider." You say out loud. Jake looks at you sympathetically.

"Well, that's probably why you're so nervous."

Be the surprised, eavesdropping princess.

Oh. My. Gosh. You can't believe you just heard that! John, your brother, king to be, is in love with Dave, his knight. That's like, so cute yet sad at the same time! You feel a deep pain in your chest for your brother. As king, there's no way he and Dave can ever be together! He's gonna have to pick a queen to marry and have kids with! You hear Jake say something about going to check on something, so you back away from the door and make it look like you were about to knock as he opens the door.

"Ah! Y-Your highness!" Jake says, meeting your gaze.

"Hi, Jake! I'm here to see John!" You say, peering over his shoulder to look at your brother. He gets out of your way and you skip over to John. "Hey, John!" You say hugging him before pulling back to look at his robes. "Not bad!" You say, hearing Jake close the door as he leaves.

"Thanks. Got to look good tomorrow." John says. You nod.

"Yeah. You should see the outfit _Dave_ is wearing." You say, nudging him in the side a bit.

"What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything." You say looking up at him. "I just… couldn't help but overhear you guys a few minutes ago." You see your brother's eyes widen in shock. "Don't worry though! Your secret is safe with me, John!" John sighs with relief.

"Look, before you say anything, I already know. It's impossible. I'm being crowned tomorrow and after that I'll need a queen. Besides, I'm sure he doesn't like me like that anyway. I know." John says, looking out the door to the balcony. You look at him sadly.

"If I could I'd help you, but I don't know how." He looks at you and smiles sadly.

"I know. Trust me. I know." You hug him again, tighter this time.

"At least he'll always be around, right?" You ask cautiously.

"Yeah. There's that…" He whispers.

The next day comes quickly, and even though you still hurt for your brother, you can't hold in your excitement. Today, not just a select few royals will be there, but a multitude of people will be dancing and celebrating John's coronation. You skip down the hall in your best green and black dress, Bec following close behind.

"The window is open! So's that door! I didn't know they did that anymore! Who knew we owned eight thousand salad plates!" She says, skipping through the dining hall. "For years I've roamed these empty halls, why have a ballroom with no balls? They're finally opening up the gates!" Jade says looking out the window. "They'll be so many kinds of people, it'll be totally strange… But WOW! Am I so ready for this change! Cause for the first time in forever there'll be music, there'll be light! For the first time in forever I'll be dancing through the night! Don't know if I'm elated or gassy, but I'm somewhere in that zone, because for the first time in forever, I won't be alone!" You giggle and run down the hall with Bec, before turning to look at the wolf. "I can't wait to meet everyone!" You gasp quietly. "What if I meet, _the_ one!" Bec looks at you and groans a bit. "Tonight imagine me gown and all fetchingly draped against the wall, the picture of sophisticated grace. Oh! I suddenly see him standing there, a beautiful stranger, tall and fair. I wanna stuff some chocolate in my face!" You say before quickly grabbing a small piece of chocolate from a passing maid. "But then we laugh and talk all evening, which is totally bizarre. Nothing like the life I've lead so far. For the first time in forever, there'll be magic, there'll be fun! For the first time in forever I could be noticed by someone!" You look back at Bec. "And I know it is totally crazy, to dream I'd find romance. But for the first time in forever, at least I've got a chance." You shrug at Bec.

Be the King to be.

You stand alone, staring up at the picture of your father. Today's the day. You will become king in just a few hours. You sigh. "Don't let them in, don't let them see, be the good prince you've always had to be." You say, repeating what you've been told all these years. "Conceal… Don't feel…. Put on a show… Make one wrong move and everyone will know." You look at the nearby door, the door that leads to where the King makes his personal proclamations. "But it's only for today… It's agony to wait…." You walk out the door and yell. "Tell the guards to open up the gate!"

Be the princess again.

Hearing John order the opening of the gate, you quickly run out and rush out the gate. "For the first time in forever, I'm getting what I'm dreaming of. A chance to change my lonely world, a chance to find true love! I know it all ends tomorrow, so it has to be today! Cause for the first time in forever…" You say running past some passerby's and skipping down the street. "For the first time in forever…" You quickly step down the steps to the dock. "Nothing's in my way!"


	5. Chapter 4

This is the LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN! And sorry about the long wait. And sorry if your feels get touched by this.

* * *

Be the 1-hour-to-kingship prince

You stand in your chambers, now fully dressed and pacing nervously. The ballrooms are full of nobles come to see your coronation. But you can't bring yourself to leave your rooms just yet. What if you make a fool of yourself? What if you mess up the ceremony? What if someone finds out about your powers? What if your powers get out of control? What if you hurt someone?

Sounds of their laughter and the music echo softly down the hall. You freeze suddenly, inexplicably terrified. Music. Ballroom. _Dancing_. Oh jesus f*cking christ on a piece of TOAST. DANCING. You haven't practiced dancing since you were eight, and you found out about your powers.

What are you even going to _do_? You will definitely be expected to dance with all of the nobles from the surrounding kingdoms. You feel your knees lock up, and you step backwards and sit heavily on the edge of your bed. You begin to reconsider this entire idea, and seriously contemplate asking Jake to make everyone leave. You put your head in your hands before you hear a knock on your door. "Who is it?"

"It's me." Your eyes widen. Dave.

"It… It's open." You reply reluctantly. You see your door open and Dave walk in. In those few moments you forget how to breath. Dave is wearing an ornate red tunic with golden trim and small black accents. His red pants match, and black shoes that go with his outfit. You stare for a moment before gulping and you finally blink. Dave looks at you with concern.

"Dude, are you okay?" He asks, quirking an eyebrow inscrutably.

You contemplate trying to play it off and lying to him, but one look at the genuine concern apparent on his normally stoic face nixes that idea for you. You sigh, and reply quietly "No. No I'm not."

Upon hearing your answer, the worry in his face grows even more apparent, and he walks toward you, coming to sit beside you on the bed. He leans forward on his knees and stares straight ahead, only glancing at you out of the corner of his eye, obviously waiting for you to continue. When you don't comply, he turns to face you and pokes your side, making you squeak in a rather un-regal fashion. "John, come on. What's wrong?" he prods. "Come on man, I'm your best bro. Who else are you gonna have a feelings jam with to get this out of your system, Jake? Dude, not a good plan. He's too much of a goofball. We Striders are the kings of feelings jams. Shit's serious, bro. Do you see my crown? Sitting here on my head?" he grabs the circlet from the top of your head, and shoves it on his own, flash stepping away from you as you try halfheartedly to take it back from him. "Obviously, I am the king. Bow down to me Egbert. Kneel before the sexiest bro in feelings jam history."

You giggle a little, and drop to your knees on the floor. "Oh, sir strider" you say, in your best imitation of a girl's voice, bringing the back of your right hand up to your forehead for effect. "Take me now! Your kingly qualities and masculine sensitivity are just too much for a delicate flower like me to handle, I'm afraid I'm simply going to _swoon_." On the last word, you lunge for his ankles, catching him by surprise and yanking them out from under him

"Egbert, what the f*ck," Dave shrieks, in a high pitched decibel that you are going to give him SO much shit for later,as he crashes to the ground in front of you. You take advantage of his momentary (and extremely rare) shock to crawl on top of him and retrieve your pilfered crown. You wind up panting, stretched on top of Dave, in your best attempt at pinning him down to prevent him from taking revenge, your circlet clenched victoriously in your fist.

"Hah!" you crow triumphantly, grinning widely down at him. "You are obviously NOT the king of feelings jams, Dave. I don't see any crown, do you?"

"Hmph," he grouses, his red eyes meeting and locking with yours. "Whatever Egderp. We both know I don't need a crown to prove my superiority." He smirks up at you, and you suddenly realize how _close_ you two are. Your left elbow is propped on the floor next to his head, keeping the crown out of his reach, while your right hand is pressed flush against his broad, toned chest, just below his clavicle. Your knees rest on the ground just below his hips on either side, and your body is pressed against his from the bottom of your ribs down. You blush furiously and break eye contact, rolling off of him and onto your back on the floor beside him, crossing your legs tightly to prevent any…. misunderstandings. "John," Dave says cautiously from beside you.

"Hmmm?" you reply absently still distracted by your earlier, foolish escapade.

"You still haven't told me what you were so worried about earlier" he points out, rolling over onto his side and propping his chin in his hand to regard you.

"Oh, right. That…." you mutter. For a moment, you consider just telling him everything. How much of a relief that would be. But your common sense takes over, and you simply say "I'm going to make a fool of myself trying to dance."

Dave relaxes at that, and laughs. He actually _laughs_.

You glare at him, offended. "It's not funny, Dave!" you exclaim indignantly. "I'm going to be expected to dance with tons of people. And I haven't since I was like… Eight!" Dave quickly stands up and offers his hand.

"I'm sorry to say, but I find that hard to believe. Allow me to help you up, John."

"Dave, noooooooo," you whine, taking his hand nonetheless.

"John. Dude. Get up." Dave drags you to your feet, pulling you into him, and placing one hand on your waist and taking your hand in the other.

"Dave, what the heck are you doing?" you ask, completely stymied.

"Showing you that dancing isn't all that hard. It's literally just stepping back and forth in a circle and chatting inanely. I'll start off as the guy and then we'll switch okay?" You simply nod as the two of you start moving. You stare down at Dave's feet, trying not to step on his toes, and keep a healthy distance between you. "John, I won't bite," Dave chuckles, forcing you closer. He leans in, and whispers in your ear, "Well, not hard enough to leave a mark at least." He laughs at the look on your face as he pulls back only slightly. You are still uncomfortably close after the unwelcome effects of your last encounter, and his fake flirting isn't helping matters. You return your eyes to their position trained firmly on the ground, watching the mesmerizingly repetitive pattern of your feet across the floor. You start as you feel Dave's hand on your chin, gently pushing your face up to meet his gaze. "You don't have to be so nervous, you know," he murmurs gently, the change in the timbre of his voice sending chills rippling down your spine and across your skin. You notice his hand hasn't moved from it's position on your face. His fingertips are still resting softly on your left cheek. You don't know when, but your left hand joined your right on his shoulders at some point, and once again you are acutely aware of how close you two are. Inappropriately close, even if this were a normal dance with a normal girl at a normal ball. But it's not. You're here, in the privacy of your chambers, where no one will disturb you, and you can't bring yourself to care. You still haven't broken eye contact, your blue eyes locked with his fiery red ones, and when did his face get so close to yours? You can see the faint, almost indiscernible smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose, and how his blonde lashes frame his red eyes that are flecked with gold. You watch as he takes in a breath, his thin, slightly chapped lips parting as he all but whispers. "John?"

"Hm?" is all you can manage in reply, still too lost in the hypnotizing, captivating force that is _Dave Strider_.

He is so close that you can feel the light pressure of his breath on your skin, made even more stimulating by the hypersensitivity your powers give you. You unconsciously rise up on your toes and tip your head back farther to bring your faces together so that your noses are almost touching. You can practically feel the movements of his lips as he begins to speak again. "John, I-"

Suddenly, the door to your room flies open, and Jake's chipper voice breaks the heavy trance. You and Dave throw yourselves away from each other to opposite sides of the room, and you flush bright red while Dave compensates with a blanker version of his usually inscrutable pokerface. "Gadzooks, John, hurry up, everyone's wait….ing…." He trails off, staring at the two of you. "Did I, er, interrupt something?" he inquires guiltily.

"N-No. It's fine…" You say, taking deep breaths. You look at Dave from the corner of your eye and see him recomposing his poker face.

"Well, it's time, John." Jake says quietly, giving you a sad, sympathetic look. You nod and slowly walk to him, following him to the big throne room,Dave trailing behind the two of you. You gulp as the ceremony begins.

About 45 minutes later, you are officially king. Jake walks behind you, taking your circlet off your head and letting the bishop place the crown on your head. You gulp as you take the royal scepter from another one of the servants.

"I present to you, His Majesty, King John Egbert." You hear the crowd begin to clap and cheer. You turn to look at Jade, who is currently beaming proudly at your side. A few of the knights bow before you to swear their fealty, Dave being one of them. He looks up at you, and you notice an unreadable expression in his eyes, so you respond with a slightly nervous half smile. He nods discreetly and stands, returning to his seat. You take a deep breathe again and walk down the aisle to the grand ballroom, soon followed by the people.

As you enter, the royal musicians strike up a stately waltz, and one by one, the guests pair up and begin to dance. You turn and see a blond girl skipping in your direction. Her long blonde hair, streaked with blue swings beguilingly over her shoulders, bared by the off shoulder sleeves of her royal blue ball gown, slimmer in form than contemporary fashions dictates, but very attractive on her lithe blue lips stretch into a wide grin. "H-Hello?"

"Hi!" She says, her voice peppy and bright. "I'm Lady Zahhak, daughter of Lord Horrus Zahhak." You perk up at the name.

"Ah yes! Lord Zahhak!" You say. Horrus Zahhak was good friends with your father, from what you heard, but you never knew he had a daughter.

"Yeah! So, like, I was wondering if you already had a dance partner picked for your first dance or if I could claim that spot?" She asks, almost with a singsong voice. You bite your lips nervously but nod, earning an excited giggle from her as she takes your hand and pulls you to the dance floor.

Be the king's caretaker.

You watch as John gets dragged onto the dance floor by an extremely attractive young woman before you notice the sudden presence of someone next to you. "Hello, Strider."

"English." Dirk replies quickly. You smile, keeping your eyes on John as he clumsily dances with the girl. "I'm amazed his majesty is doing even that well." You laugh at that.

"Your brother helped him I believe." Dirk nods slowly, before looking at you.

"Your job is going to get rougher huh? Serving the king and all."

"Not much different, I believe." You say, seeing John bow to the girl before she skips off happily and he quickly makes his way to the side before another girl can ask him to dance. You see a few girls walking in your direction, giggling and pushing each other. However, they all look at Dirk.

"Sir Strider?" One asks, causing both you and Dirk to look at her. "W-We were wondering if you were a-available to dance tonight?" Dirk smiles sadly at the girls.

"I am sorry, my ladies, but I am on guard duty tonight, and even if I was available, my heart is already taken." The girls all frown at his response. "My humblest apologies."

"We understand. Enjoy the night." One says before they all walk away. You roll your eyes slightly.

"Ah the woes of being a Strider, huh?" You joke, looking at him, causing him to smirk.

"Trust me. Sometimes these good looks are a curse." He jokes right back. You laugh, rubbing your eyes before you see Jade and John dancing together. "They grew up so quickly huh?" You nod, watching the twins dance. As the song ends, John and Jade bow to each other and separate. Jade walks over to the girl who first danced with John,allowing John to escape to lean against the wall. You witness the two girls start talking, even giggling a bit and you chuckle.

"Looks like Jade has a new friend." You say. Dirk nods, looking at them.

"Lord Zahhak's daughter. I hear she's a handful." Dirk states with a slight sigh. You nod. Anyone who gets along _that _well with Jade must be a handful. You see Jade pull the girl over to John quickly and decide to walk over to find out what's going on.

"Hey! John!" Jade starts. He looks at her.

"Yeah, Jade?"

"You've met Lady Zahhak right?" Jade asks. John nods slowly. "Well, I was wondering if she could move in here!" Jade suggests. You see John's eyes widen quickly. "You two seemed to hit it off and we've got so much in common and she would fit in so well here and-"

"No Jade." He replies quickly. She stares at him with wide eyes.

"But Jooooohn!" She begs.

"No is no, Jade." John replies, almost harshly. She winces,drawing back a bit and he sighs. "Look…. We'll talk later, okay?"

You watch as Jade practically wilts under her brother's harsh words. "Yeah, okay," she says softly, nodding in defeat. She slowly nods in defeat before walking away with Lady Zahhak. John turns to walk away, wrapping himself in his arms, a sign you've come to recognize as a precursor to a nervous breakdown. You also notice Lady Zahhak pull Jade towards the alcoholic drinks. You feel torn so you search for Dave, who is currently dancing with his half sister and Jade's maid, Rose.

"Strider!" You say walking over to them. Dave turns to you with a confused look. "I need your help." You say pulling Dave away and point to Jade. "Make sure nothing happens alright?" Dave looks a bit nonplussed before understanding and nodding and walking over to the two girls as you make your way towards John.

You return to the thick of the party after a long conversation with John, hidden from prying eyes and gossiping courtiers in an alcove tucked away at the back of the hall. Among other things, you discussed his relationship with his sister, and his guilt regarding his all but absence towards her and her forced isolation because of him. He is significantly more relaxed, and you feel comfortable leaving him to his own devices again. You glance around quickly before spotting Dave lounging against the wall near the alcohol table where, alarmingly enough, Lady Zahhak and Jade are _still_ partaking. You stride quickly towards them, noting as you do Jade's arm looped around Lady Zahhak's shoulders and her infectiously bright giggles that are audible even several feet away. She looks unsteady on her feet, and stumbles even as you watch, throwing her arms around Lady Zahhak and proclaiming what a "abubblesolutely besterest friend" she is after she catches Jade and lowers her to a nearby chair. By your estimation, she looks to be _exceedingly_ inebriated, and you furiously march towards Dave. This is exactly what you sent him over there to prevent! "David Strider" you growl threateningly as you walk straight up to him and grab him by the front of his tunic, pulling him in close and snarling into his face "just what in the devilf*cking dickens is it that you think I sent you over here to do?"

You watch as he gulps audibly and replies timidly "keep Jade from getting drunk?" He's looking anywhere but you.

You snort derisively, letting go of his tunic and stepping back, shoving Dave a little as you do so. "And just what exactly would you call _that_?" You point to where Jade is hanging upside down from the chair, her knees hooked over the back, her back arched over the seat, and her arms dangling down on either side of her head, giggling uncontrollably.

Dave does a double take, starting to say something and then snapping his mouth shut quickly. Finally, he says very quietly, "But, I mean, I was watching her, and she only had about 2 glasses of champagne, and 2 or 3 of those fruity drinks over there…." He trails off as you glower at him, advancing slowly as you spit out your next words.

"Dave. You blundering, half-witted _buffoon_. Those "fruity drinks" are _hard liquor cocktails_. NO WONDER SHE'S HAMMERED OUT OF HER EVER-LOVING MIND." You watch Dave Strider cower under your withering gaze, and behind your concern fueled anger, you feel a spark of pride. It's difficult to rattle anyone from the Strider family, but you've picked up a thing or two from all the time you've spent around Dirk. And you are using it now to your _full_ advantage. "_You_ can go explain to John why his sister is farther gone than a nakodile from their boon bucks after they catch wind of the stock market." For a moment, Dave looks at you like you're totally insane, before remembering his current situation. You watch, victorious, as Dave slinks off to collect Jade and explain things to John. You snort humorlessly to yourself. You're sure _that_ will go over like a ton of bricks.

You're just glad you don't have to be the one to explain it to him. You trail menacingly behind Dave as he politely extracts Jade from Lady Zahhak's presence, and loops her arm over his shoulder, with a grunt and an "up you go, princess"

"Daaaaaaaave. Ohmygoodness. I am soooooooo glad that you're here." She flings her other arm around his neck and giggles, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She pulls away then, suddenly serious. "But I don' thing that you should be making John sad. Why are you doonging that? Opps, I mean doing that." She frowns up at him.

Dave looks down at her, the barest trace of confusion visible on his face. "I'm not making your brother sad, your highness. I think you must be mistaken," he replies, obviously more intent on getting her over to John than on what she's saying.

"Yez you are," she pouts up at him, arms still wrapped around his neck. "You should make him happy. When John's happy I am too. Cauz, then I don' have to be all aloooone." She beams, as if she's had the most marvelous idea in the world. "Yes! Dave, as princess of Alternenia, I commander you to make John happy. Oh, and Dav?"

"Yes, Princess?" he sighs without looking down at her.

"Find me somewhere to sleep. I'm tiiiiiiiired." With that she snuggles close to him and closes her eyes, head resting against his shoulder. You miss whatever it is that Dave says after that because of Dirk's sudden reappearance next to you.

"What's the hell's up with Jade?" he asks, looking at her, obviously amused.

"Your charming whiz of a brother failed to properly monitor her, is what's up" You slightly snap back.

"That little shit." Dirk shakes his head. "I'll get him for it later," he offers consolingly.

You grin mischievously at him, "Oh, I think he's learned his lesson. Though I certainly won't argue with you if you want to boggle him soundly in a good bout of strifing." He shoots you a questioning look, and you swat at him, poking him in the side. "I've picked up a thing or two about how to deal with you Striders from all the time I've spent around you, old chap," you reply airily, smirking. Dirk opens his mouth like he's about to say something when suddenly, you feel a freezing gust of wind at your back. You spin around only to see John, looking like he's just been emotionally punched in the gut. His face is twisted in the most despairing, betrayed, anguished expression you have ever seen, and you feel the bottom drop out of your stomach. Nothing good can come of this. You don't know what transpired in the few minutes you were distracted with Dirk, but John has your full attention now. You hope to high heavens that this doesn't get out of control.

All of a sudden you see Jade step away from where Dave is standing supporting her and stagger only slightly towards her brother, yelling. "Juss cuz _you're_ sad doesn't mean you have the right to make everyone else suffer!"

The entire room goes silent at Jade's outburst. Even the musicians have stopped playing. "Jade," he says quietly, dangerously, "we will talk about this later." He looks up and addresses the crowd at only a slightly louder volume "everyone out, now. The party's over." He turns away, and starts to leave the room, and for a second you breathe easy. He didn't lose control. They'll talk it out and everything will be fine.

Then you see, almost as if in slow motion, Jade reach out and grab her brother's wrist. "No." She says it quietly, but forcefully. Defiantly. And you can tell John has snapped before you even see what happens. He whips around and glares at Jade.

"I SAID THE PARTY IS OVER!" And with that, Jade and Dave, thankfully the only two people close enough to be seriously affected, go flying across the room, propelled by a violent gust of air. The only reason you weren't sent flying was because Dirk had grabbed you and pulled you out of the way before anything happened. You see the realization dawn in John's face when he recognizes what he's done. You try to go to John, to calm him down, but Dirk stops you, keeping you physically restrained.

"Dirk, let me go! I have to go help him!" you plead, but he simply shakes his head, holding onto you more tightly.

"I'm not going to let you run into that and get hurt too." he replies. You watch helplessly as John staggers backwards and looks at his sister lying prone on the floor, horrified.

Be the terrified king.

Oh god. What have you done? Not only have you lost control of your powers in front of everyone, you've managed to hurt your sister and your best friend, two of the three people you love. You run across the room, people drawing away from you as you do, but you don't care. You just have to get to them. Make sure they're okay. Apologize. Even if they hurt you more than you could ever imagine. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. You can talk it out. Everything will be fine. You repeat this to yourself over and over as you dash towards them. You are almost to Jade, but Dave, not knocked out by the blast, gets there first, kneeling over her unconscious form. You come to a dead halt, and just look at them, together on the floor. Dave looks up at you from where he is worriedly examining your sister, a look of betrayal and disappointment clear on his own face. His beautiful red eyes lock with yours, only this time, they are filled with sadness. Sadness that you put there. Because you hurt him, and you hurt your sister. The bottom drops out of your stomach, and you simultaneously feel the need to retch and to run away and never see either of them ever again. Your heart is being slowly shredded by your newfound knowledge, and your entire being just wants to collapse. Dave stands and starts toward you, but you stagger backwards. You feel wetness on your face, and reach up to feel it with one hand. You vaguely register that you are crying, but you are more concerned with _getting away_.

You don't even realize that you are floating above the ground until you notice you are taller than everyone else in the room. Wind whips around you, throwing small objects every which way and tearing at individuals in the room. You force yourself towards the balcony doors and the freedom of the night air beyond, away from all of this. You try to outrun the pain, but it just keeps clawing at you, tearing at your heart with icy, needle tipped claws. You cast one last glance back at Dave, just standing at the window, not moving, and you begin to cry in earnest, sobs wracking your body as you use the wind to propel you away. It doesn't matter where. Just _away_. Because you can't be here anymore. So you let the wind carry you away, as far away as it will take you, trying to forget the hurt faces of those in the room, especially the one with those beautiful, cursed red eyes.


	6. Chapter 5

Be the just waking up Princess.

When did you fall asleep? You open your eyes to find yourself in what you know to be the Castle's infirmary. Blinking in the glow of the candlelight emanating from the wrought iron ceiling sconces, you sit up slowly noticing the pain in your head, and you groan slightly, bringing your hand up to the back of your head and gingerly prodding a sizable lump, wincing at the contact. You register a heavy weight on your leg, and look down to see Jake dozed off with his head and one arm resting on your leg over the sheets of your infirmary cot. You sit up slowly, noticing the pain in your head. You try to extract yourself from beneath him, but you jostle his head and he jolts up and looks around wildly before seeing that you are awake.

"Good! You're awake. I can go now." You see Jake starting to stand up.

"Wait wait what happened?!" You ask, grabbing his hand. Jake looks at you with sad eyes. "Wh-Where's John? Did something happen? What happened at the party?! Why am I in the infirmary? Why can't I remember anything?" you trail off quietly. You are confused and honestly a little frightened. Not much can get Jake in a bad mood. This is the most serious you've ever seen him, and you just want to know what happened.

He looks down at you, his expression softening, and he chuckles half heartedly. "One question at a time, your highness. I can't very well answer all of them at once."

You take a deep breath and force yourself to calm down and settle back against the pillows on your bed. Alright. One question at a time. Speaking of time…."Well first of all, what time is it?" you ask. "Oh, and how long have I been asleep?" Jake glances at the candle to check how long.

"By the looks of it you've been out about 3 hours, so it's about 1 in the morning." Jake replies.

"Three hours?! What happened?!"

"Well….. You and John had a bit of a spat after you got a tiddly bit tipsy. Well. Actually you were completely pissed."" You look at Jake like he's knocked off his rocker. "Drunk. Pissed means totally black out drunk," he clarifies quickly.

"What do you mean?" You inquire slowly.

"Erm. Well. Your much _do_ you remember?" he inquires hesitantly.

You think back a bit to before the coronation. You remember being very excited and running around with Bec while you got ready that afternoon, and you remember greeting the multitude of guests until John _finally_ came out of his room and they performed the coronation ceremony, but after that, everything gets a bit fuzzy. "Well, after the coronation, we all went into the ballroom," you say slowly, running through the events of the night in your head as best you can. "and John was trying to avoid dancing with anyone, but there was a girl…." you screw up your face, wrinkling your nose in an effort to remember. You had a vague recollection of blonde hair, and lots and lots of blue. "Lady Zahhak!" you exclaim. "He danced with Lady Zahhak, and I felt bad for her, because she was _obviously_ trying to flirt with him, but let's be honest, _that_ was never gonna happen because of-" Oops. You almost ratted John out. You look at Jake, concerned, but he doesn't seem to have noticed your slip. "Um, well anyway. I felt bad, so I went to go talk to her, and we really hit it off! She was really nice, and we had a lot in common, and…. And her dad was going to be leaving for a long trip because he's accompanying one of his mercantile voyages to oversee trade negotiations with a new customer in person. Lady Zahhak was going to be left all alone, so I thought she could come stay with us while her father was gone! We went to ask John, but he got kind of mad, and said no." Jake nods.

"Anything else?"

"Well I came back with Lady Zahhak and she suggested we try some of the drinks and…. Wow. I must have gotten drunk… I think I remember Dave helping me across the room and John started talking to us about something and then… Oh god… Did I really say that?"

_'Just because you're sad doesn't give you the right to make everyone suffer!'_

Jake nods slowly and you feel your heart break. "Oh gosh. And then he… We said some other things and then…. I was propelled across the room against the wall." You look at Jake. "How? How did I get thrown across the room by some random wind? Where did it come from?!"

"Looks like you do remember that…" He sounds as if he wished you didn't.

"What happened, Jake?!"You look at him seriously, but he avoids your gaze.

"Well, John has the ability to manipulate wind." You look at him with wide eyes.

"What?! How come I didn't know?!" You ask.

"Why do you think?! While you were knocked out, everyone cowered away from him like he was some sort of freak." Jake explains. Jake snaps. "It's not a gift. It's a curse. He's afraid not only of the damage his powers could do, but also what people will think of him, especially if he can't control it. Do you think an eight year old child would lock themselves away by _choice_? No. You think it was hard for _you_ "alone" in the castle all these years? Think about John for _once_! The only people he can be around on a regular basis are Dave and I. Don't you think _he's_ lonely? Don't you think _he's_ hurting? And you know what, every _single_ time you got mad or upset at him for shutting you out, it practically _killed_ him. He has cried over what he's had to do for your protection more times than I can count!" Jake is yelling by this point, and you cower, pressing yourself against the headboard and fighting back tears. "He loves you so much, and you repay him with…. with…. with _this_?" he explodes. He takes a deep breath and turns away from you, composing himself. Your eyes widen in understanding. All these years. He's stayed hidden because of his ability. And now that people know, there must have been a panic. All these years he's kept himself away as to not scare anyone, and, knowing him, he also didn't want to hurt anyone. And you yelled at him. _You_ brought his powers to the public eye. You hear the door open and see Dirk walk in.

"Your highness." He said.

"Ah! Dirk! Good. Now I can go find John." Jake says turning to leave, shooting you a scathing glance.

"Wait. John's gone?" You ask surprised.

"When everyone found out, he flew out the window. Literally." Dirk explains before grabbing Jake by the arm. "He's no where to be found."

"I'm gonna help look! I made him mad. I'm the reason he used his powers. It's my fault. I need to be the one to bring him back." You say, standing up slowly.

"Then I will come with-"

"No Jake. You're exhausted. You need sleep. You've only slept for three hours total for the last days." Dirk interrupted Jake. Your eyes widen. 3 out of 48 hours?! Jake really was dedicated.

"Jake…" You say, causing him to look at you. "I need someone I can trust to take care of the castle while I'm gone. I need you to stay here. Get some rest and help everyone here." Jake looks at you with pleading eyes. "No Jake. I have to be the one who brings him back." You look at Dirk. "Stay with him and make sure he gets rest." Dirk quickly puts his arm across his chest and bows.

"Yes ma'am. But, if I may say so, you shouldn't go alone. May I suggest you take Dave with you?"

"Dirk…" Jake starts.

"Dave is John's assigned knight and closest friend. And who knows where John went. It could be dangerous. No one better to take than Dave right now." Dirk retorts.

"Alright. Thanks Dirk!" You say, running out of the room to find Dave.

* * *

You finally locate him in the ballroom, standing by a broken window. You slowly approach him, immediately noticing the puffiness under his eyes, which also seem redder than normal. Your own eyes widen. Dave Strider had been crying. You bet he's been standing there the whole time. You look at the window. This must be the window John flew out of. You then notice the dark clouds coming stand next to Dave before whispering, "Dave?" He jumps slightly and rubs his eyes, quickly.

"Your highness?" He asks, his voice raspy. You feel your heart wrentch again. You bite your lip before continuing.

"I wish for you to come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to find John." He looks at you with slightly widened eyes. "It's my fault he ran off in the first place. I am going to bring him back." You see Dave's eyes brighten just a bit as he nods.

"Yes ma'am." He replies quickly as you grab a cloak on your way out. He follows you and you run to the stables. You grab the reigns of the nearest horse and your hand is grabbed by someone else's hand.

"Excuse me but that's my horse." You look and see another light haired, red eyed, young man looking at you. However, this one is not Dave. This one looks like he needs sleep more than Jake does, dark circles under his eyes. His almost white hair is incredibly messy.

"Excuse me but I need a horse."

"Excuse me, but Gamzee is very temperamental." He says right back.

"_Excuse_ me, but I've been riding since I was three. I'm _pretty_ sure I know what I'm doing"

"And I'm pretty sure it doesn't f*cking matter, cuz it's _my_ horse," the stranger growls, yanking your wrist to pull you in close for what you suppose is supposed to be an intimidating effect.

You grin and simply sling your arm around his shoulder. "You and I, I think we'll get along _quite_ well. What's your name?" To be honest, you are quite you are quite a handful of people have treated you like anything but "the princess" since John locked himself away, and the gumption of this young man has impressed you. However, you'll get to know him later. Right now, you are in rather a hurry to go retrieve your brother.

"Uh, Karkat?" he replies, ducking out from under your arm. His horse, his face black with white, skull like markings, put his head on Karkat's shoulder.

"Well Karkat," you reply breezily, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have places to go, people to see." You dart over to the side of his horse and put your leg in the stirrup, swinging yourself into the saddle as you add, "Later, loser!" When you are situated, you look down at Karkat, who is gaping at you. You lean down and give him a sweet smile "I'm Jade, by the way." You give Gamzee a swift kick to get him going, and gallop out of the stables, leaving an irate Karkat sputtering as you ride off. You see Dave on his brother's horse, Cal, riding towards you.

"H-Hey! Wait!" You hear Karkat yell, obviously going to grab another horse. "That's _M_Y horse, you pretentious doucheprick!" Dave gives you a confused look as the other albino follows you. You just giggle madly and take the lead, galloping away as Karkat and Dave follow, the former yelling a string of insults after you.

* * *

Someone commented on how they couldn't wait for Karkat and well, here he is! Sorry for the wait X3


	7. Chapter 6

Mari: YAY! Another chapter!

Aria: Woot! *dances around to inaudible music* Anyway, thanks for reading this far! If you've been with us from the start, we hope you're still enjoying it.

Mari: If you're just joining us, WELCOME ABOARD! Loved the reviews we got for the last chapter and the love of Karkat.

Aria: Are you glad he finally came out of the woodwork and deigned to make an appearance? We finally have all our main characters now!

Mari: Which means the real fun can now begin!

Aria: Yep! So get ready for treachery, fluff, and FEELS like you wouldn't believe. :P

Mari: (We hope. We try, at any rate.) So now….

Mari + Aria: Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Be the princess on the pilfered horse

You have been riding for a while now. And you come to realize that you have no idea where you are going. You reign in Gamzee, who has slowed to a frustratingly languid canter, and walk him over to the edge of the path to wait for Dave and Karkat to catch up to you. When they finally draw even with you, Karkat slides off his horse and stalks irately over to you. You open your mouth to ask Dave a question, but Karkat cuts you off.

"Hey. Dipshit. Get off my horse."

You stare down at him a moment and grin wickedly. "And if I say no?" you query.

You see Karkat's hands ball into fists at his side and he scowls, eyebrows drawing together and eyes glinting. He's practically fuming at this point, and you think it's _hilarious_. "I'll f*cking yank you off him myself, you shitmunching asslamp!" he shouts, absolutely furious.

You giggle and regard him from your vantage point on Gamzee, who is tall, as horses go. "Hate to break it to you shorty, but I don't think you could reach me, even if you tried." You stick your tongue out at him.

He flushes a deep shade of crimson and shoves a lock of his mussed hair out of his eyes so he can glower at you unobstructed. "I AM NOT SHORT," he bellows, and proceeds to march over to Gamzee's flank, grab your leg, and yank.

You hadn't been holding onto the reigns, and his pull catches you by surprise, so you lose your balance, and you give a startled yelp as you begin to slide off of Gamzee. You squeeze your eyes shut and round your shoulders as you brace yourself for impact with the ground, but you land in a pair of arms instead with a muffled "oof!" You look up in surprise to see Dave glaring at Karkat over your head as he sets you back on your feet.

"Hey, asshole. What the hell do you think you're doing to the princess?" he wonder vaguely how Dave managed to get off his horse and over to the ground beside Gamzee in time to catch you, but dismiss it as just another mystery that you will worry about later. Right now, you are more concerned with the hilarious expression that has made itself apparent on Karkat's face. He looks as if he just swallowed something rather unpleasant and sour and is fighting the urge to gag, before his mouth drops open to gape at you. His eyes widen considerably, his red eyes big as saucers, and he pales visibly, something you didn't think was even possible on his already ashy skin.

You snort and prop an elbow on his shoulder. "What's the matter Karkitty? Cat got your tongue?" you tease.

You can see him struggling for words, but he finally manages to spit out, "_What_ did you just call her?"

"Uh, the princess, duh," Dave's voice comes from behind you, carefully monotone. "Her royal highness, Princess Jade Harley Egbert."

Karkat is silent for a long moment, then he slowly steps backwards and braces his hand against a tree by the end of the path, slowly lowering himself until he is sitting on the ground, the fingers of one hand pressed to his forehead and a look of pure disbelief plastered across his face. He's muttering to himself and you can only catch bits and pieces of what he's saying. "I cannot believe…. _princess_…. f*cked up…. called her a f*cking _doucheprick_!"

"And a dipshit. And a shitmunching asslamp," you add helpfully. "So?" He looks up at you, his expression warring between despair, fury, and agitation.

"But…. But you're the fucking _princess_!"

"And?" you shrug nonchalantly. "Come on ya big baby, get up, we're wasting daylight. We've got a moron of a brother to find." You offer him a hand, grinning at him as he takes it distrustfully and you pull him easily to his feet. He's only an inch or so taller than you so he doesn't weigh much. He brushes himself off, trying to regain a shred of his dignity.

"Don't think this means I've forgiven you for stealing my horse." He stalks over to Gamzee and gives him a worried once over.

You laugh, "of course not."

Seemingly satisfied with his horse's wellbeing, he lifts one foot into its stirrup, and swings himself up on Gamzee's back. After he is situated, he turns to you. "Now. Princess-"

"Jade" you interrupt him.

"Jade," he corrects himself. "I have regained custody of my horse, and now I must take my leave. I have duties to fulfill back at home, and I am most certainly not properly supplied for whatever trip you and Crimson over here are off on. The only one of us here with any ability to protect themselves here is the knight, and I certainly wouldn't want to put anyone in danger because of my inability to wield a weapon, or by being deadweight. Plus, you all need all of your supplies and having an extra body to feed won't do any of us any good. So I think I will just be taking my leave now."

He turns Gamzee and begins to walk him back the way you came. You quickly swing yourself into the saddle of the other horse and block his path. "Awww, Karkat, no," you pout. "Come with us! We were just starting to have fun…. Besides, you wouldn't leave me alone with the gloomy mute over there, would you?" you stage whisper conspiratorially, jabbing your thumb over your shoulder at Dave, who does indeed look vaguely upset and worried, though he's doing his best to hide it. "He's too worried about John to be any fun, let alone talk to me," you add. "Come on, it won't take that long. It'll be fun!" You look at him pleadingly.

Karkat scowls, but sighs resignedly. "Fine, f*ckface, but you better compensate my pay for the time I'm taking to do this," he grumbles. "What are we even doing anyway?"

He realizes belatedly the insult he's addressed you with, but you laugh it off, earning a small smile from him. "Well, we're going to find my brother, since he flew off from the coronation." Worry clouds your features. "We need to bring him home."

Karkat nods slowly, before his eyes widened. "Wait…. Your brother?" You nod. "That makes him the….."

"That's right. He's the king, his majesty, King John Sassacre Egbert. Can we go now?" Dave interrupts.

"Oh hell no. I've heard plenty of this guy! I am not going out of my way to save some snooty, snobby king who threw a temper tantrum and ran off." Karkat states. You gasp slightly and see Dave's eyes widen a bit.

"You did not just-" Dave says, clenching his fists starting to walk over to the smaller male before you put your arm out.

"He's not snooty or snobby, Karkat." You say firmly. "And besides. He _is _your king. And he is in need of help. And he did _not_ throw a temper tantrum. I pushed him too hard. I made him mad. He ran off to keep from hurting anyone, including himself." You say, looking down slightly. "He was just trying to keep me safe, and I called him selfish." You sniff a little and bite back the tears that threaten to fall. "Well, anyway" you say with false cheer, your voice catching just slightly. You see Karkat frown a little, as if he realizes something is off, and you hurry to add, "Dave's right. We should get going. We've dallied here long enough!" You turn your horse around and follow the path that you had been following, noticing Dave and Cal trot next to you and Karkat slowly following.

* * *

After a few hours of riding, you notice the wind picking up. "We must be getting closer!"

"What makes you say that?" Karkat asks.

"John revealed he had powers to control wind. If my reasoning is correct, his emotions can change even the weather." You explain.

"With the weather being this crazy, we must be close to the source." Dave adds. Karkat sends Dave a glare but nods slowly.

"Alright. But we need to be careful." You and Dave look at Karkat curiously. "This area is habited by all kinds of wildlife."

"Oh, really? Like deer and bunnies and squirrels? Ah, I hope we see some!" you exclaim.

Karkat smacks his face into his palm and growls "No, shithead, not as in fluffy bunnies and cute squirrels. As in wild f*cking animals. Bears. Wolves. Panthers."

"Oh," you utter abashedly, "I didn't know, sorry." You grin sheepishly and Dave is about to say something else when all three of you are silenced by a long haunting note. "What was that?" you ask curiously.

"That," Karkat replies grimly, "was a wolf's howl."

"It's getting dark, and we need to find somewhere to sleep," Dave remarks from beside you, his face as grim as Karkat's. "We'll have to take shifts for keeping watch. But right now, we just need to get out of here. We're almost to the foothills of the mountains, so we should be able to find a cave or somewhere to set up camp."

"Right. Let's go then," you say, kicking your horse back into a trot. From behind you, you hear Karkat shouting at Gamzee to move.

"Come on, you lazy, good for nothing asshole!" Gamzee however, continues to stare vacantly and refuses to move. "This f*cking horse. I swear to god, half the time he doesn't know his own head from his ass." You giggle quietly under your breath. _That's_ the horse he was so worried about you trying to "steal"?

"Come on Karkat," you call over your shoulder teasingly, "or I'll leave you behind with the wolves." He opens his mouth to respond before he suddenly disappears from atop his horse. You turn to look down and a wolf has Karkat pinned to the ground. "Holy crap I wasn't being serious!" You try to make your horse turn to help him, but end up being thrown back off your own horse.

"Your highness!" Dave yells, but Cal steps backwards, a few wolves snapping at his legs. "Shit!"

You and Dave both hear a loud whinnying from Gamzee as he rears up and lashes his front hooves at the wolf atop of Karkat. The wolf goes flying, allowing Karkat a chance to breathe before Gamzee turns around and does the same with all the wolves around. You stare in awe at the horse, moments ago just staring off into space, now muscular and powerful, a strange fire in his eyes. Karkat scrambles to his feet and quickly grabs the reigns to Gamzee's bridle.

"Shoosh it's okay… It's okay, Gamzee." Karkat whispers with a surprising amount of gentleness. Gamzee tugs at the reigns, trying to get away. Karkat just pulls him back and strokes his muzzle. "Gamzee. Shoosh. It's okay. I'm okay. They're gone." Karkat says, smiling gently at his horse. You can't help but watch with wide eyes. Who knew this cursing man could turn into such a gentle person in a matter of seconds. As Karkat looks into Gamzee's eyes, still petting his muzzle, the horse visually calms down. "Good boy."

"Dude. You're bleeding." Dave says, looking at Karkat's shoulder. Karkat looks down and also sees the bite wound in his shoulder.

"Nothing a few bandages won't take care of."Karkat says, looking at you. "Come on. Your horse ran off, your highness. Gamzee's calm now. Let's find shelter."


	8. Chapter 7

This is a short chapter, but for a good reason. Enjoy.

* * *

Be the runaway king.

The world rushes past you in a blur of muted greens and browns, but the wind has you cocooned safely in it's comforting hold as it pushes you along. You've never used your powers to this extent before, and you find yourself feeling strangely exhausted, even more so since you've finally stopped crying, and you just want to rest. You see that you are approaching the tallest mountain, the one which overlooks Alternia far to the west, and you take the opportunity to land towards the top of Sburb Mountain, realizing for the first time just how far you've traveled. You wrap your arms around yourself as you land, feeling the wind let go of you as you drift gently to the ground. You look around, and judging by the sky, it's way later than you expected, probably around 3 or 4 in the morning. Without any extraneous lights from the castle you can see the stars visible in stark contrast to the velvety expanse of the dark sky, glittering stones scattered across their inky indigo blanket. You sigh as you begin walking, hugging yourself tightly as you trudge farther up the mountain. You find the light breeze that caresses your flushed skin slightly comforting. "The wind blows light on the mountain tonight…" You look around. "Not a person to be seen. A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like, I'm the king…." You sigh. You come over a rise and reach the edge of a crag and suddenly the kingdom of Alternia is laid out before you, and even the castle, which has been your world and prison for so long, appears small and fragile from this distance. "The wind is howling like this hurricane inside… Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried…." You think back to every time you had threatened to lose control. Every time you had struggled to be emotionless just so you wouldn't hurt everyone. "Don't let them in don't let them see be the good prince you've always had to be. Conceal don't feel don't let them know…" You think about your practically nonexistent relationship with your sister because of how you've been forced to seclude yourself. You think about how Jake and Dave are your only real friends. Finally you think about the hurt expression in Dave's eyes the last time you'd seen him. For a minute, you falter, but then you straighten up and look at your hands, smiling slightly. "Well now they know!" You lift your hands tentatively, and for the first time in twenty two years, actively try to draw on the power you've been suppressing for your entire life. You wave your hands gently through the air in front of you, feeling the wind respond to your movements. "Let it go! Let it go! Can't hold it back anymore!" As you become comfortable with the feeling of the power tingling it's way across the surface of your skin and emanating from deep in your bones, you lose your inhibitions and laugh, drunk on the freedom of it all, breaking into a wide smile. "Let it go! Let it go! Turn away and slam the door!" You turn and flick your wrist, sending a blast of air towards a nearby tree, ripping the leaves from their branches and sending them swirling into the air. "I don't care what they're going to say, let the storm rage on, the wind never bothered me anyway." You rip open the clasp on your cape carelessly and tug it from your shoulders, giving it a disparaging glance before letting it go and turning away as it flies off. You face the path that leads to the highest point on the mountain, and start towards it determinedly. "It's funny how some distance, makes everything seem small. And the fears that once controlled me, can't get to me at all!" Dave's face flashes through your memory for a moment, but you shake off the painful image and begin break into a run. "It's time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through. No right! No wrong! No rules for me! I'm free!" Your voice rings out across the empty landscape, and you feel powerful. You feel whole. You feel _right_. You finally feel like you are allowing yourself to be who and what you were always meant to. You tip your head back and close your eyes, focusing on the sensation of the currents of air on your skin that your powers make you hypersensitive to. Your eyes snap open, and you twirl in a circle with your hands outstretched, giddy with your newfound freedom. You summon the wind to you once more, this time in a harsh explosion of air that accumulates beneath your feet and rockets you towards the stars in the steadily lightening sky. "Let it go! Let it go! I am one with the wind and sky!" You close your eyes and trust your instincts to guide you, spreading your arms to feel the edges of your essence merge with the wind itself. "Let it go! Let it go! You'll never see me cry!" You jar yourself back to awareness and land back on the mountain in front of a rundown, abandoned mansion. "Here I stand, and here I'll stay…. Let the storm rage on…" You say walking into the mansion as you feel your powers guiding the wind and the wind taking away any dust and dirt. You run up the stairs as you find the main room, one with a balcony. You watch in amazement as your powers revitalize the mansion, returning it to a state as if it had recently been built. "My power blusters through the air into the ground! My soul is spiraling in swirling breezes all around! And one thought whirls within me like a windy blast!" You yank the crown off your head and stare long and hard at it. You remember how right it felt to let yourself go and how you had suddenly felt all the pieces fall into place deep within the very heart of you essence when the edges of your consciousness had merged with the element you had rejected in fear for over two decades. You suddenly realize that you can never return to the way things were. You cannot stifle yourself for the sake of others anymore. Your only true regret is Dave, but... You think back to the last time you saw him, and you remind yourself that he has someone else. That he will be happy without you. You steel yourself, and stand straight, striding to the edge of the balcony, and towards the rising sun. "I'm never going back, the past is in the past!" You fling the crown away from you, over the edge of the balcony and the edge of the mountain, and watch it tumble, releasing with it all of your regrets and responsibilities that have plagued you and bound you. You leave the prison of your old life behind utterly and completely. "Let it go! Let it go! And I'll rise like the break of dawn! Let it go! Let it go! That perfect boy is gone!" You stand on the balcony and rise into the air once again before looking down at yourself. When did your clothes change? They went from the tight fitting, regal robes to a loose fitting ornate blue tunic embroidered with a swirling wave-like pattern, long sleeves reaching your wrists, but not tightly, flowing with the wind. Your pants match your new tunic, with yellow trim towards the bottom. "Here I stand in the light of day!" You cast one last glance down over the kingdom you have left behind, and breathe outward, lifting your head to grin unabashedly at the sky now stained a glorious spectrum by the rising sun. "Let the storm rage on! The wind never bothered me anyway." You turn back into the room, the wind closing the doors behind you with a flick of your wrist.


End file.
